462 THE CARNIVORES 



which frequently form squarish patches, tending to form transverse bands. These 

 species constitute the genus Linsang.* The one African linsang, on the other 

 hand, has smaller spots, which have no tendency to run into bands over the greater 

 part of the body. It has also a naked line running up the sole of the hind-foot, as 

 in the genets. From these slight differences this animal has been made the type of 

 a separate genus Poiana. 



The earliest known of these animals was the Javan linsang (Linsang gracilis) , 

 from Java, Borneo, and perhaps Sumatra, shown as the upper figure of our colored 

 plate. It is the smallest of the linsangs, with a coloration similar to that of the 

 next species, but with a different kind of skull. 



The Burmese linsang (L. Maculosus), which is the largest, and perhaps the 

 handsomest, of the group, appears to be a rare animal, and is at present known 

 only by two specimens, one obtained from near Moulmein, and the other in South 

 Tenasserim. It is represented in the lower figure of the plate. The tail is slightly 

 shorter than the head and body ; the length of the two latter being about nineteen 

 inches, and that of the former (including the hair at the tip) just under seventeen 

 inches. The body has a grayish ground color marked with about six very broad 

 and somewhat irregular brownish-black transverse bands extending across the back, 

 and separated by very narrow intervals. On the flanks and neck the markings form 

 broken longitudinal lines and spots, one very distinct line always extending from 

 behind the ear to the shoulder. The outer surfaces of the fore-limbs and of the 

 thighs are spotted ; and the tail has seven complete dark rings, separated by nar- 

 rower light interspaces ; its tip, as in the genets, being lighter. 



The spotted linsang (L. pardicolor}, which is found from the Southeastern 

 Himalayas to Yunan, is a somewhat smaller animal ; the length of the head and 

 body being only fifteen inches. It is readily distinguished by its coloration ; the 

 back being marked with longitudinal rows of large oblong spots, instead of the 

 transverse bands of the last species. 



A tame specimen of this beautiful animal was once kept by Mr. Brian Hodgson 

 in Nipal. He describes it as very docile, fond of notice, and never giving vent to 

 any kind of sound. It was free from the strong odor characteristic of the true 

 civets, and was fed upon raw meat. Mr. Hodgson states that in its wild condition 

 this species is equally at home on trees and on the ground ; and that it dwells and 

 breeds in the hollows of decayed trees. It is not gregarious at all, and preys chiefly 

 upon small birds, upon which it is wont to pounce from the cover of the grass. 

 The times of breeding are said to be in February and August, and the litter to con- 

 sist of two young, there being two litters each year. 



The African linsang (Poiana poensis}, of which some of the distinctive charac- 

 teristics have been already mentioned, is found only on the West Coast, in Sierra 

 Leone and Fernando Po, and is, therefore, widely separated from its Oriental rela- 

 tives. The tail is somewhat longer than the head and body, measuring upward of 

 forty and one-half inches ; whereas the total length of the head and body is but 

 thirty-eight inches. The spots, as already mentioned, are smaller than in the Ori- 



*The name Prionodon is generally used in this sense, but it clashes with a nearly similar name applied to an 

 armadillo. 



